Holding candles, hundreds pray for Hugo Chavez

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Hundreds of Venezuelans held a candlelight vigil Friday for President Hugo Chavez, praying for their leader while he remained in a hospital undergoing cancer treatment.

Chavez's supporters gathered on a large staircase in a hillside park near the presidential palace. They lit candles at sunset and sang along with a recording of a healthy Chavez belting out the national anthem.

Some wiped away tears. Others closed their eyes and prayed. Some said they felt sad, yet still hopeful that Chavez might be able to survive.

"We're praying for the president, for him to get through all of this," said Ana Perez, a seamstress holding a candle and shielding her flame from the breeze with a piece of paper.

Her eyes filled with tears as she talked about Chavez. "There is no other president like this one. He's unique," she said, wiping a wet cheek.

2. What's going to happen when Chavez dies?

3. rumors from the country

My boyfriend is currently in Venezuela visiting his family. He told me that the rumor going around town is that Chavez died yesterday. The media and the country are awaiting the official word.

There will be a huge celebration if he passes away... i know it sounds morbid, but the situation in Venezuela now is very dire. The only reason Chavez won in the last election was that anyone who had not voted as of late in the day on election day received phone calls from Chavez' team saying that if those people did not go vote for Chavez, they would have their homes, cars, etc taken away from them. As soon as Chavez got enough votes to move ahead, the election was called.

I have been with my boyfriend since Chavez got into power. The downfall of Venezuela is staggering. Before my boyfriend left for the country, his family asked him to bring them certain things from the United States. I thought, at first, it would be gifts for the kids. Yet, they asked for things such as toothpaste, cornmeal, and would have welcomed milk if he could have taken that with him. These everyday items are less and less available. It is so bad, that family members will text message or call in order to tell his family that there is milk available at a certain place.

What we see in the news is a glorified Chavez. He has brought so much pain to so many in his time in office. Please don't read articles from Huffington Post and other news agencies touting the wonders of Chavez and how much his loyal "fans" love him. These articles gloss over the true nature of life in present day, Chavez-controlled Venezuela.

7. This post sounds just like the propaganda of formerly super rich ex pat Venezuelans.

Almost all of the news we get in the US is filtered though the state department and uses the out right lies that the formerly wealth owners of Venezuela make up because they can't wait to put their boot back on the throat of the Venezuelan people.

Do get me wrong Chavez is no saint, but he is far better then his opposition who just want to put the nations resource wealth back into their own pockets. The hard right in Ven makes the republicans in America look down right reasonable with the treason tactics that they have used to try to bring down the legally elected government of Ven. This includes arming para military gangs and sending them out to kidnap people. Accepting what the arch conservatives in Ven say about Chavez is worse then thinking Glen Beck is telling the truth about Obama.

12. lolololololol

15. Chavez is a tyrant to the rich, especially wealthy families of the top 10% in Venezuela.

The vast majority of Venezuelans are too poor to travel cross borders, and they're the ones that typically voted for Chavez. However, those who are wealthy enough to travel abroad or attend school in other nations or even work in other nations typically speak poorly of Chavez. His tax policies tended to place the most responsibility upon those who could most afford to carry the burden: The rich.

4. Indigenous Venezuelans Hold Ritual for Chavez

Indigenous Venezuelans Hold Ritual for Chavez

MOSCOW, February 23 (RIA Novosti) – Supernatural forces were evoked on Friday night in Venezuelan politics, as representatives of the country’s indigenous peoples held a ritual for their ailing president Hugo Chavez.

The ritual, held in downtown Caracas, involved lighting a “sacred fire,” mass dancing and a prayer for presidential health, Venezuelan state news agency AVN reported.

The fire was intended to collect “bad energies” which were then to be disposed of by scattering the ashes over the river, said one of ritual’s co-organizers, an indigenous “wise woman” identified as Betania.

Chavez, 58, appears to need all the help he can get as he continues his battle with cancer. He underwent extensive treatment, including four operations, over the past two years, but was nevertheless unable to attend his own presidential inauguration in January.

The president reportedly struggles with respiratory problems that render him unable to speak, though he spent five hours on Friday issuing written instructions, media reported.

10. Seriously?

This

The only reason Chavez won in the last election was that anyone who had not voted as of late in the day on election day received phone calls from Chavez' team saying that if those people did not go vote for Chavez, they would have their homes, cars, etc taken away from them. As soon as Chavez got enough votes to move ahead, the election was called.

8. Yup. You got that right, one of my best friends is an ex pat Ven

Due to Chavez his family lost billion dollars. After this I watched my formerly liberal friend morph into a hard core right winger and it would be sad if it wasn't so hilariously transparent. Little fucker's pissed because his family only hide a few hundred million overseas so his inheritance with probably only be like 10 million rather then the 50 or more he would have gotten.

11. Genuinely sad, at every level. Can't imagine what kind of people she imagines DU'ers are, anyway.

One of the oddest attempt to mislead posters I've ever seen.

It's as if she doesn't realize we aren't all sitting quietly in the dark with hands folded on laps waiting for the next right-wing buffoon to try to hand us another load of bogus "info" regarding a Latin American leftist leader.

Guess they don't realize leftists are very much interested in leftist leaders and go out of their way to find out as much as possible about them.

14. I will not answer for her, but

I am sorry I sent my first post, I see now that it was a waste of time and never expected to be dealing with children who cannot maintain a serious exchange.

Also, you are very misguided to think that Chavez was a leftist like you would think of the Democratic party in the USA, which I voted for, but the reality is very different. I guess you would also like to live in Cuba, can't go more left than that.

It is a shame that this exchange takes place in DU, it does give a bad name to the site, where one expects intelligent discussion and all one finds is a bunch of people who seem to know very little about a topic while trying to look smart by making jokes when someone has an opposing opinion.

Well, goodbye, amuse yourselves with your wisecracks, maybe someone here will end up as a comedian.

13. +1

16. Sad day

for Venezuelans and for the world. I'd always hoped to meet him. Now I wish I'd worked harder at it. Coincidentally CNN is too busy slobbering over Jebster's latest hard line on Latin American immigration to notice. Anyway thanks for posting a respectful thread Judi Lynn.